
The eye wants its allure, the beauty franchising. The case: The Lash Lounge
“A human being is an aesthetic creature before being ethical,” is a statement by the Nobel Prize-winning Russian writer Joseph Brodsky that speaks volumes about today’s world… and also about the market. I borrow his phrase as an introduction to this article, in which I will discuss the beauty sector and how promising it is today for the franchising industry and its two main protagonists: franchisors and franchisees.
First, let’s try to understand what is meant by beauty: this sector includes not only beauty products – such as makeup like lipsticks, eyeshadows, and nail polishes, face masks, and perfumes – but also the many services revolving around the concept of beauty, from hairstyling to manicures, and skin and eye treatments.
Even in Italy, the numbers are very encouraging. According to the 2019 Beauty Report by Cosmetica Italia, the value of the domestic market exceeds 10 billion euros, with exports accounting for over 42% of turnover, amounting to nearly 4.8 billion euros.
Let’s open our eyes
The Lash Lounge was the first US-made franchising dedicated exclusively to eyelash care, particularly extensions, but also to other non-invasive services like lash lifts, tinting, and threading.
It’s a long-standing business that has evolved over the years to successfully launch its franchising network. In 2006, founder Anna Phillips began expanding her business: initially, she expanded her first store, which until then was all in a single room. Then she launched her first major beauty salon in Colleyville, Texas: as soon as word got out, the waiting list for services stretched to a month. Within a couple of years, she opened two more identical ones in other locations.
Phillips soon realized that her flagship service was eyelash extensions: when she applied them, she could see “an immediate transformation” in women’s faces, “unlike any other service,” she recounts:
“It gave women a sense of self-assurance: I saw women open their eyes (after the treatment) and start crying, seeing themselves beautiful for the first time.”
From there, the idea arose to offer eyelash care, particularly extensions, as a unique service for her stores. Demand continued to grow, as did requests to open in other cities. In 2009, the founder began working with a franchising consultant to start her network, which began the following year:
“We were the first and only ones for a long time, in franchising, the first in the country to create an exclusive chain for eyelash care.”
When competitors began to emerge, she formed a partnership with Franworth, a team of franchising experts who helped her grow even more and refine her offer. In particular, the idea was to further narrow down the commercial proposal to improve scalability and efficiency. “Initially,” Phillips explains, “we also had a small boutique in the store with some products that customers could buy. We got rid of it when we realized it was preventing us from scaling and diverting attention from our main expertise, the extension service.”
At the end of 2019, the chain celebrated its 100th proprietary store, alongside about 400 franchised stores. In addition to the exclusive offering of eyelash services, another secret to such success is the focus on training managers of new stores and employees:
“I knew my strong point –” Phillips explained – “I knew I could help owners, train staff, and show them what it really means to manage a salon: I knew I could open a successful Lash Lounge even with my eyes closed.”
Call to action!
- Unexplored niche and anticipation of latent needs: there were no beauty salons dedicated exclusively to eyelashes before. If you want to offer less competition, do something that others don’t do or do little and poorly.
- Attention to training: to offer the same unique experience to consumers across the country, a significant investment in training professionals working with you is needed. If you train well, you always win.
- Verticalization, focus: if you sell too many different things, you risk confusing the consumer. If, on the other hand, you are recognized by everyone for only one product/service, it will also be easier to communicate your value proposition. Become a super specialist in one thing!
Beauty is no longer a “traditional” sector. Tech has forcefully entered the sector. At the last CES in Las Vegas, many beauty tech solutions were presented, including the Venus smart mirror that scans every millimeter of the skin to assess spots, wrinkles, and luminosity and connects to Alexa to offer personalized advice. L’Oréal launched its Perso, which stands for personalization: a project aimed at analyzing the customer’s skin and creating customized creams and serums. While more visionary is the project of the agency Seymour Powell, which aims to create 3D printers that produce custom masks, thanks to the use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence.
Other trends, according to analysts – by the way, I recommend this great article by Cb Insight – include targeting ethnic and demographic groups that have felt underrepresented by the beauty industry, such as Boomers and people of color. While sustainability remains a strong trend, from the choice of organic and natural ingredients in product creation to packaging.